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Thursday, June 21, 2007

Join SAMIHOPC

That's right, I'm happy to announce the launch of a new lobby group, the Society Against Media Induced Hysteria Over Power Cuts (SAMIHOPC - a very memorable acronym I feel).

Target #1: The Dominion Post

A 40 minute power cut one evening in Auckland's leafy North Shore suburbs "caused chaos" apparently.

How so? Well, "the power outage disrupted movies and meal orders." No shit Sherlock. Now if this was a regular occurrence - as it in fact is in much of the world - it might be cause for comment. As it was, however, the brief cut caused a minor and very temporary interruption to commercial operations, much as one would expect.

How cynical of us here at SAMIHOPC: what if vital medical procedures were disrupted??? Well, they weren't:

North Shore Hospital spokeswoman Bryony Hilless said it switched to its emergency generators as soon as the power went off and only non-essential areas were affected.

"Our emergency management plan went perfectly and staff were calm."

Perhaps, as every Aucklander would suspect, the real chaos was on the roads?

Even lights on the harbour bridge, traffic lights and traffic monitoring cameras were out. "It was pretty black. Everyone was making for home very quickly."

How on earth can people drive without street lights and traffic monitoring cameras you might ask? Well, relatively sensibly it seems.

The fact that Mt Albert Grammar had to close for half a day yesterday, and an afternoon of "learning" was lost, is officially "a disaster".

One might think a school principal would be slightly more judicious in his use of language. Mt Albert Grammar being wiped out by a volcanic eruption - say, from nearby Mt Albert, ... now that would qualify as "a disaster".

Missing an afternoon of "learning" is, at worst, "a mild inconvenience" for staff and parents, and "a joyous occasion" for pupils.

We've lost periods left right and centre at our school lately for various reasons, all good ones of course, and it hasn't made jack shit of a difference to whether or not the kids are going to pass. One or two hours out of each subject when they get around 150 lessons a year = whoopdy dooo.